


Splinter

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22129018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: With Ukaizo behind them, Emiri and Aloth stumble upon a discovery that threatens to alter the nature of their friendship.
Relationships: Aloth Corfiser & The Watcher
Kudos: 6
Collections: Pillars of Eternity Prompts Weekly





	Splinter

**Author's Note:**

> For Pillars prompt 105: Twin. This was fun, and a chance to play with something I’ve headcanon-ed for a long, long time. There’s some reference to another Emiri fic, Souls, but I think you could read this one on its own

Ironically, they didn’t put the pieces together until it was all but inconsequential. Despite the years of friendship, despite their close bond, despite _everything_ , realization didn’t dawn until Ukaizo was behind them and the Wheel a shattered ruin.

Stars twinkled overhead, crisply visible in a for-once cloudless sky, and Emiri lost herself in their glittering beauty. Better that than dwelling on... the day’s events and their fallout. She’d done enough recently; the gods could give her _one_ night to gather her thoughts before the world plunged into whatever would come from the Wheel’s destruction. One night to rest was all she asked, one night of quiet with her friends--old and new. So far, they’d granted her that faint kindness.

Emiri sighed and leaned her head back as she traced her gaze along Rìasco’s constellation, found Tìadra and her sisters(which brought wistful thoughts of Kana and Maia), followed the zigzag of the Hound’s Fangs... Last of all she found the Twins, still shining bright and cheery. According to the legend Kana had told her, that meant the souls of Tala and Averin were still alive and well somewhere in Eora. _Did they help create the Wheel?_ Emiri wondered, fiddling idly with her adra-green bracelet. _Is that what made their souls bond so closely? Or was it truly just how much they cared for one another?_ In her experience, the gods demanded much and gave little, so the thought of them rewarding a pair of kith just for loving each other enough was nigh unbelievable. _However it happened, I hope they’re happy this time ‘round, since it might be their last_...

“May I join you?”

She pulled her gaze from the sky and her thoughts from the thread they had started following to instead smile at her prospective company. “ _Always_ ,” she said emphatically, patting the boards beside her. “I’ll warn you, it’s not the most comfortable seat, but well worth the trade for a better view of the sky on a night so clear.”

“I wondered,” Aloth said with a smile as he sat next to her, so close their shoulders almost brushed, and pulled his knees into his chest as he leaned back against the mast. “I know how much you love the stars, but wasn’t sure if you wanted to be alone with those thoughts racing in your eyes.”

“Were that the case, I’d’ve stayed in my cabin,” Emiri assured him with a quiet chuckle. “Open deck’s no place to try and be alone. But even if I _were_ wanting solitude, I always have time for you.”

“I appreciate that, but you _are_ allowed time by yourself,” he murmured.

“Between Ondra and Berath, I’m not entirely sure that’s true,” she said wryly.

“ _Aye, well then fuck **them**!_” Aloth shook his head to push Iselmyr back, then rolled his eyes at Emiri’s threatening smile. “Don’t encourage her, _please_. She’s been more restless than usual the past few days as it is.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Emiri said, leaning her head back against the mast again. “Did you need something, or just want my company?”

He hesitated a moment before answering. “...A little of both, in a sense. I wanted to make sure you were alright after... everything.”

“As I can be,” Emiri sighed, letting her eyes drift closed a moment. _Everything_ covered a lot, but she knew what he meant. When she opened them, the Twins were front and center, shining bright, and she smiled. “I said I was half-tempted to let Eothas do as he planned, and it looks like I got my wish. I’ll worry about what that means tomorrow; I’m too tired to do it now.”

“I’m sure I don’t know _why_ ,” Aloth said dryly, arching a brow. “It’s not as if you’ve been running yourself ragged trying to save the world from one catastrophe after another--not to mention your friends from a variety of messes--for months on end. If anyone deserves a chance to rest, it’s you.”

“Thank you.” Emiri lightly nudged his shoulder. “A night with my friends and the best view I think I’ve ever _had_ of the stars will go a long way.”

“They do keep drawing your eye,” he smiled. “Any particular favorites you can see from this part of the world?”

“The Twins,” she said after the barest pause, nodding toward the stars in question. “According to legend--well, _Kana_ \--they’re for a pair of Glanfathan scholars who bonded so closely the gods made them the first soul twins, and then later were so impressed with their persistence finding each other life after life, they hung those stars in their honor.”

“Magnanimous view of the gods,” he muttered, “And how soul twins came to be.”

“Guess it does sound nicer than being drawn to someone because your souls are splintered pieces of a whole...” Emiri murmured, still staring up at the stars. “Much nicer than how it played out for Hiravias, anyway. And it’s an inspiring story, however much or little of it is actually _true_. The world needs all the stories of determination paying off it can get these days.” She picked absently at a hangnail. “To give kith hope.”

Aloth shrugged and made a non-committal noise as his gaze followed hers. “I rather think it will be kith like _you_ who inspire people more than myths and legends.”

She shot him a grateful look that was interrupted as the _Mercy_ hit a swell and jostled them from their positions. Aloth hissed sharply midway through resuming his seat and jerked his arm away from the mast.

Emiri spun toward him, her concerned _‘What?_ ’ dying halfway past her lips when she saw the nasty splinter dug into the back of his bicep. “Hold still,” she directed instead. It was a big enough splinter she could likely just pull it out, but only if she was careful and he didn’t flinch.

Aloth froze, biting his lip, and glanced at her over his shoulder.

Emiri gently curled one hand around his arm to support and hold it still. She was, for once, grateful for the soft glow emitted by her crescent growth. As predicted, the splinter came out easily enough, even if Aloth did suck in a sharp, pained breath as she pulled it free. There was no blood, which was a relief, just a small, angry red spot. She lightly ran her thumb over it to ensure it wouldn’t start to bleed, and he flinched.

“No need to fuss-”

His words were swallowed by the silver-purple buzz of something from the distant past pressing itself into her thoughts. _“it’s not that bad.”_

_“That’s what you said about your cold from last month,” another new voice chuckled, “remember how that ended?”  
_

_“You worry too much,” the dwarven man mumbled, shaking out the sting of his allegedly minor injury. “I’ll be fine.”_

The vision--memory-whatever--was gone as abruptly as it had come, and it took Emiri a minute to collect her thoughts. She’d recognized that dwarf; he’d been one of the earliest kith when she first glimpsed the lives associated with the Twins.

_Odd those lives would poke through now,_ she mused. M _aybe because the Wheel’s destroyed...?_ Her attempt to explain it died a quick, graceless death when she looked up and found Aloth staring at her with wide eyes.

He’d seen it, too.

But even with being a Watcher, even with her cipher abilities, the only time she’d _ever_ shared a memory with someone was when they were closely tied to the soul in question. Related, in fact. Between that vision coming out of the blue and Aloth sharing it, she had to wonder...

“What did you do?” he whispered hoarsely after a long, breathless moment of staring at each other.

“Nothing,” Emiri whispered back, letting go of his arm. “It just came. You saw...?”

He nodded.

Emiri looked up toward the Twins.

“What?” Aloth asked.

“I’ve seen that dwarf before,” she said softly.

He frowned and cocked his head. “It wasn’t a dwarf, though maybe that was the other voice, it was an orlan, with dark hair. Sort of reminded me of you...”

Emiri shook her head and explained about the night star-gazing with Kana when she’d essentially Watched the souls she assumed inspired the Twins. A dwarf and an orlan. Best friends or lovers, souls so strong she’d been able to read them even after so many years. “Apparently there’s at least a little truth to their legend. I think... I think they might be _**us**_. For that memory to surface now and us both to see it...”

“I don’t think soul twins work that way, Emiri,” Aloth protested. “Aren’t they from souls that break as they travel the Wheel?”

“That’s the thing, though,” she countered. “Not much is known about how soul twins _do_ work, and I can’t think of any other reason for that specific memory to surface, especially since we _shared it_. I can’t normally conduct memories like that without trying to _very_ hard.”

“So you think because we both saw it...”

“We were both there,” Emiri finished. “In... that life. Soul twins.” The words hung in the air as she let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Aloth’s expression went carefully blank as he sat back, rubbing his arm. “Well. That’s... a lot.”

Emiri couldn’t agree more. She’d known they were close, but this... It did explain some things--starting with the way meeting him had eased an ache in her chest before they’d exchanged three words or known anything about one another beyond both being stuck in Gilded Vale. At the time she’d chalked it up to relief at not being _alone_ , which was still probably part of the reason, but it had been deeper than that. This revelation was indeed a lot, though, enough to keep them both lost in thought until they turned in for the evening with barely a mumbled goodnight.

\---

They didn’t speak for the rest of the three days it took to bring Neketaka into view. Emiri was sure it wasn’t intentional; Aloth was a private person to begin with, and drew back into himself even further when confronted with... earth-shattering information like this. She let him have the time to think, until they were less than an hour out from port. Whatever was about to come when they met with the queen and other leaders, she wanted to be sure he was alright before it hit. 

So she dragged him into her cabin and shut the door before settling them both on the window seat. “What’s bothering you?”

Aloth snorted softly and ran an agitated hand through his hair. “What do you think?”

“Us being soul twin?”

He nodded stiffly, picking at a hangnail. “Though it does figure, I suppose.”

Emiri frowned at his disgruntled tone. “How do you mean?”

Something almost immeasurably _sad_ flickered in his eyes as he took a deep breath and met her gaze. “You are the first person in my life who has cared about me so.. so _unreservedly_ , with no ulterior motive. The first real friendship I’ve had that was a matter of choice on both parts. A better friend than I ever dreamed of having, really, and that’s something I’ve treasured every day since we met. Now...” He sighed and looked out the window. “It all makes sense. I knew it was too good to be true; that there had to be some twist to it.”

“What?” She frowned for a moment, then it hit her. “Aloth...” She took his hands, squeezed them gently. “You think the only reason I’m friends with you, that I care about you, is because we’re soul twins?”

He lifted one shoulder in a reluctant half-shrug. Emiri rolled her eyes and tugged his hand to encourage him to look at her. “Leaving aside that I fail to see how our souls being bonded in any way detracts from our friendship or cheapens it or whatever, I care because, well, caring is who I _am_ and you deserve to have someone care about you. And I’m your friend b’cause I like _you_. Your trust and support and presence are all things I cherish deeply, and our souls being halves of a whole doesn’t change that.” She tugged him further forward, into a hug, hoping the gesture would reassure him even if her words couldn’t. “All our being soul twins means for me is this is not the first time we’ve been best friends.” She loosened the hug but left her hands resting on his arms as she caught his eye. “I care about you and you matter to me, apart from any soul-bond we might share. Is that clear enough?”

Aloth nodded, a wry smile curling his lips. “You’ve made your point.”

“Good.” Emiri pulled him in for another hug. This one he returned, and they sat there for a moment before Emiri let out an amused chuckle and sat back.

“What?” Aloth arched a brow in curiosity.

“Just... As if being godlike, a cipher, a Watcher, _**and**_ having an Awakened soul didn’t make me special enough, now I have a soul twin, too,” she giggled.

“Don’t forget Berath’s Herald,” Aloth said dryly. 

“Oh, right, that too. Though I think They might be done with me now...” She shook her head. “I hope my next life gets to live in blissful ignorance of all this mess.” She snorted softly. “Except you. They could remember you without it traumatizing them.”

“They likely will, assuming that legend you shared has any truth to it,” he pointed out.

“Mm. And assuming there _is_ a next life; this whole realization is basically moot if there’s no Wheel or something equivalent...”

“True.”

They were quiet a moment at the thought, watching the ocean waves pass by outside the ship.

“Aloth?” Emiri finally murmured.

“Hm?”

“Look at it this way, if we are soul twins, we’re the pair where it’s not because one splintered off the other, but rather because two kith were so close not even a silly thing like death could keep them apart.”

He laughed. “That does sound very much like us.” Beodul hollered down they’d reached the harbor, cutting off any further discussion. Aloth shot her an encouraging smile. “Ready to deal with the potential slow end of the world?”

Emiri laughed and squeezed his hand, tugging him with her as she moved toward the door. “I’m pretty sure together we can handle anything.”

Soul twins or no, they’d have each other’s backs and they both knew it. They were bonded by choice and friendship and that was really all that mattered.


End file.
